


Mind Games

by Derin



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 02:09:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/645385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derin/pseuds/Derin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaime and his Scarab's AI awake one morning to find their positions reversed - Khaji Da controls Jaime's body, and Jaime controls the Blue Beetle armor. Set between Before the Dawn and Cornered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Heart rate: 46 beats per minute._  
 _Blood pressure: 120/70._  
 _Blood composition: normal._  
 _All monitored body systems working within normal parameters._

-Wait, what?-

_Heart rate spike: 59 beats per minute. Warning: adrenalin response. Body systems working within safe parameters._

-What's happening? Am I dreaming?-

_Full consciousness achieved, heart rate 65 beats per minute._

Jaime couldn't see anything. He tried to open his eyes. No response. He... felt... somebody move in front of him. The person quickly pulled themselves upright in bed and then sat very, very still.  
-Hello?-  
Silence. Then, his own voice whispered back, "Jaime Reyes?"  
That was... interesting.  
-What's happening? Who are you?-  
"You call me 'Scarab'."  
-And what's... –  
"I do not know." The person... the Scarab... moved about, seemed to be rubbing his own arms and legs. Jaime felt his adrenalin surge higher.  
-Wait a minute. Don't tell me we've... oh, no. Nono, this is bad.-  
"Indeed. I appear to be in control of your functions and you of mine."  
-There is no way that this will end well! And I can't see a thing!-  
"Yes, you can. You must access the... you must..." Jaime felt the Scarab shake his head. "It does not have a word in either of your languages. There is a function for it among your monitoring systems."  
Jaime poked around with the monitoring systems a bit. He could measure the concentration of seventeen hormones and hundreds of trace toxins in his blood. He could measure blood pressure, pulse, breathing, and voluntary and involuntary nerve responses. He could diagnose common infections, read bone and muscle density... suddenly, the world lit up and Jaime was staring at a picture of his own bedroom wall. The image wasn't good quality; it was fairly grainy, with the peripheral vision in black and white and barely distinguishable.  
-I got it. Why is the quality so bad?-  
"That depends what you are looking at. You are probably accessing an image that has gone through very little processing. The image you are used to is heavily edited by your own mind. You should be able to access that too."  
Jaime poked around until the wall looked pretty much as he remembered. -Okay.-  
"We must resolve this issue as quickly as possible."  
-Yeah. What caused it?-  
"I am uncertain. Most likely our fight with the magician."  
-Klarion? Mierda. I hate magic! Can you fix it?-  
"Unlikely. I do not have access to my diagnostics and control systems and you do not know how to properly utilise them. Besides which, I doubt that my systems are equipped to handle this type of problem."  
-We'll need help, then. The Team or the League.-  
"Negative. Our vulnerable state cannot be known. It would put us in danger."  
-No, being in this 'vulnerable state' puts us in danger. Getting some help from our allies gets us out of danger.-  
"And do you have any allies that you can trust enough to divulge such information to, Jaime Reyes?"  
-Yes!-  
The Scarab shook his... Jaime's... head. "It is too great a risk. We should attempt to resolve this ourselves."  
There was a knock on the door. "Jaime?" Jaime's mother called. "Are you up?"  
Jaime felt a strange tingle. Familiar, but... inverted. He fought back. -Are you trying to summon the sonic cannon?-  
"Our condition cannot become known."  
-I'm not going to let you kill my mother!-  
"Jaime, you have school in half an hour."  
-Tell her you're sick!-  
"That ruse will be ineffective!"  
-Do it!-  
"I'm sick!" the Scarab called.  
A pause. Then his mother walked into the room. "You haven't been sick since you became Blue Beetle," she said. "What's going on?"  
The tingle again. Jaime fought against it. The Scarab instead bunched his hand into a fist.  
-No! You will not hit my Mum! Calm down and repeat exactly what I say.-  
Reluctantly, the Scarab relaxed his hand and parroted Jaime's words. "I'm having some... problems... with the armour today. It's not responding properly and I'm worried about hurting someone or blowing my cover."  
His mother raised an eyebrow. "Huh. You know, I bet I'm the only mother in El Paso to have ever heard that excuse. How long do you think it's going to be a problem?"  
"Hopefully not very long."  
"Well, alright. I'll stay out of your way, miho, but don't let your grades slip."  
"I won't. Love you."  
"You too." She kissed him on the forehead and left. Jaime detected minor chemical changes in the Scarab's bloodstream. Not dangerous. The Scarab sat very still, staring after her, then slowly reached up to run the spot where she'd kissed him.  
"I told you the ruse would be ineffective," the Scarab muttered.  
-Yeah, well, you also wanted to kill her, so I'm not listening to you. No weapons for you until you stop trying to kill family members. And whatever you do don't tell her the details of what's happened. She would freak out.-  
"I am not the one intending to advertise our vulnerability."  
-Well, the longer we sit here, the more vulnerable we are.-  
"Agreed." The Scarab stood up, wobbled for a second on his feet, and Jaime felt a different kind of tingle. This time he let the Scarab have his way, synthesising fabric around his body. Together, they snuck around his mother, successfully avoiding a second conversation, only to be stopped my Milagro in the front doorway.  
"Are you gonna walk with me to school today, Jaime?"  
"I... can't," the Scarab parrotted Jaime's words. "I have stuff to do."  
Milagro narrowed her eyes. "Stuff?"  
"You know. Hero stuff. I'll tell you all about it later."  
"Oh. Okay. Good luck!" She trotted off happily.  
"I assume you are not actually going to tell her the truth later," the Scarab muttered quietly.  
-No, I'll make something up. Or knowing our luck, tell her about a totally true but unrelated thing happening today.- They walked a few blocks away from the house and armoured up. -We're not zeta-ing?-  
"It is difficult to know the effects that zeta teleportation are likely to have on our current condition," the Scarab explained as they took flight.  
-Great.-  
"Our armour has successfully protected you at the bottom of the ocean, it is capable of a cross-country trip."  
-That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried... about that, right there. Exactly that.- Jaime would have sighed if he still had lungs. Below them, a few young men had cornered a middle-aged woman. They seemed to be trying to take her purse. She was trying to stare them down. Jaime had no doubts about his ability to resolve the situation. He just had doubts about the Scarab's ability to resolve the situation.  
"It is not important. We have a higher priority problem on our hands."  
-No, we... we need to get down there. She needs help.-  
"I do not understand why that is relevant."  
-You wouldn't. But it is. We need to help her.-  
"Very well. Scan for concealed weapons or technology."  
Jaime poked around a bit and found that function. The men all had switchblades, but otherwise carried nothing more dangerous than a mobile phone. The Scarab landed and summoned the sonic cannon. Jaime found the blueprints and built it around his forearm.  
"I thought you said no weapons?" the Scarab asked as he aimed.  
-No killing!- Jaime dragged the power level down to nonfatal levels. The Scarab fired, pushing a sonic beam into the gut of the nearest thug, then pulled the cannon to the side to take out the other two. It only took about three seconds. Then he turned, aimed at the first man again who was curled up on the ground. He'd forgotten about the switchblade, now lying by his head – it wouldn't have hurt Blue Beetle anyway. Jaime started to disassemble the cannon. The Scarab fought. Took aim.  
Jaime had fought the Scarab for control before, but usually from the other side. He wasn't sure if he could win as the Scarab. He pulled, willing the cannon to disintegrate, the metal to fragment and pack away into the armour. It didn't. Slowly, he felt his control over the power slipping.  
-Wait. No killing! He's already down!-  
"We have fought this one before. He will continue to cause problems. We cannot afford these distractions." They struggled further. "If you insist on resisting me, I will simply use his knife to save time."  
-You think I can't take control of this armour?-  
"That is exactly what I think. You are inexperienced and now, I have the advantage."  
-I said no killing!-  
"In case you did not notice, Jaime Reyes, making that decision is no longer your role."  
Jaime felt his control slip further. The man at the Scarab's feet was starting to recover. He looked up, into the barrel of the sonic cannon. Slowly but surely, the power level increased.  
-You'll give us away!-  
"Explain."  
-Blue Beetle doesn't kill, right? If you start leaving a trail of bodies, people will know something's up. Our enemies will figure out that we're vulnerable. We don't know how long this'll take to fix; we can't afford suspicion.-  
Scarab glanced from the man on the ground to his companions, who were trying to get up and run, and then to the terrified woman. "You make a good point," he muttered, and put the cannon away. "I will attempt to emulate your strategies for secrecy." Louder, he said, "Do you need me to walk you home, ma'am?"  
"N... no. No, I'm fine. Thanks." The woman clutched her bag and all but ran out of the alley.  
"So who, exactly, are we requesting assistance from?" the Scarab asked when they were once more in the air.  
-A magic-user. Zatanna, perhaps? Or Dr Fate?-  
"The Nabu is more likely to have knowledge specific to this problem, given the perpetrator," the Scarab reasoned. "But may be difficult to contact without alerting the entire League."  
-Yeah, this is... a problem I'd rather keep to ourselves as much as possible. Maybe Nightwing or M'Gann would know how to contact him. They both have pretty strong League ties.-  
"I do not trust the Nightwing. He is... secretive."  
-You don't trust anyone. And you're secretive. What about M'Gann?-  
"I would prefer to avoid mind-readers in our current state."  
-Nightwing it is.-  
The Scarab activated their communicator. "Blue Beetle to base. Is Nightwing around?"  
"Right here. Go ahead, Beetle."  
"I'm approaching the base now. Can we talk? Privately?"  
A long pause. "I'll meet you in the foyer."  
The building that the Team had co-opted as temporary headquarters since the loss of the Cave was large and usually felt unnaturally empty. With just Nightwing waiting in the foyer, it felt doubly so. As the Scarab strode across the room towards Nightwing, Jaime went to put the armour away. The Scarab resisted. "We may need to defend ourselves," he muttered.  
-No, if you walk over to him and tell him who you are armoured-up you're gonna look hostile,- Jaime insisted. -We don't need a fight with our allies right now.-  
"We cannot trust him not to attack."  
-We need his help, remember? And we want to keep this secret?-  
"Very well." The Scarab let him put the suit away. Nightwing smiled and walked over. Without really thinking about it, Jaime scanned his vital signs as he approached; heart rate and blood composition were inconsistent with his relaxed persona.  
"Hey, Blue. What's up?" Voice pattern was inconsistent with body language. Nightwing was hiding something. Possibly just stress at their unusual request, but the Scarab had been warning him for some time that Nightwing had secrets...  
"Who else is here?" the Scarab asked.  
Nightwing casually placed one hand on his hip. Slight blood pressure spike. Atypical arm orientation. He was positioning himself so that a weapon was within easy reach. Jaime fought down his immediate reaction to armour up against the inevitable attack. The Scarab didn't seem to notice.  
"Just Mal," Nightwing answered in a voice that probably sounded sincerely relaxed to human ears. "But he can't hear us, obviously."  
That, the Scarab did notice. He glanced briefly at the security camera to their left.  
-Please don't start a fight,- Jaime pleaded.  
The Scarab turned his head to that the camera couldn't catch his lips and said, "We have a problem."  
"What is it, Jaime?"  
"I am not Jaime."  
Nightwing adjusted his stance. Toes forward, easy to spring from. His heartbeat suddenly slowed. He was going into combat mode. "What do you mean, exactly?"  
"I am the artificial intelligence bonded to Jaime Reyes. We appear to have encountered... magical trouble." He paused a second. "Jaime wishes for me to tell you that we have a 'body swap scenario'."  
"So... you, an artificial intelligence, is in control of Jaime's body. And Jaime is... inside the Scarab?"  
"That appears to be the case. We would prefer to keep this as secret as possible."  
"And how, exactly, did this happen?"  
"We believe that it resulted from an encounter with the one called Klarion, but it is impossible to establish cause with certainty."  
"Klarion." The disgust in Nightwing's voice was sincere.  
"We believe that Dr Fate may be able to help us, but we do not wish to alert the Justice League at large."  
Nightwing nodded. "I'll try to contact him."  
-Say thank you,- Jaime prompted.  
"Thank you."  
"No problem." Nightwing, Jaime noticed, didn't take his hand too far from his belt until he was out of the room.  
-That was... unexpectedly diplomatic.-  
"I attempted to gain his cooperation with the minimum amount of debate."  
-You did well.-  
"I imitated you."

 

\------------------

  
Back in the hurriedly assembled temporary ops centre, Nightwing was talking to Mal. "Hey, how much do you know about Jaime's Scarab's artificial intelligence?"  
"It has an artificial intelligence?" Mal's eyes widened. "I thought he was talking to himself this whole time!"  
"Apparently not."  
"What's wrong with it? Can I help?"  
"I doubt it." Nightwing bit his lip. Keep it secret, the AI had said. Nightwing was good at keeping secrets.  
The question was which secrets should be kept.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaime had been through a lot in his short life. But being stared at by a Lord of Order was new.  
Dr Fate would be a fair bit taller than Jaime... well, than the Scarab, at that moment everyone was taller than Jaime... even if he hadn't been floating a good foot off the ground. Only his eyes were visible behind the golden mask, and they were expressionless. Jaime's background systems kept trying to scan Dr Fate's vital signs, only to send back a confusing mess that was dizzying to look at. It was like trying to navigate a hall where the walls, floor and ceiling were all painted in different optical illusions, the lights would flash painfully bright at random intervals, and the floor kept tilting unpredictably. He was beginning to see what the Scarab meant when it screamed "NOT COMPATIBLE" in his mind.  
"Can you fix it?" Nightwing asked after several long minutes of silence.  
"NO."  
-But... but he has to!-  
"Why not?" the Scarab asked. His voice was calm, but Jaime had been monitoring his steadily increasing adrenalin levels since Dr Fate had arrived and was fighting the urge to armour up in response. He was starting to consider drugging the Scarab to calm him down (something he hadn't previously been aware the Scarab could do, and wasn't particularly happy about).  
"KLARION'S MAGIC IS STRONG AND CHAOTIC. TO MIX MAGICS IN THIS WAY AT THIS TIME WOULD BE DANGEROUS."  
"What would you suggest we do?" Nightwing asked.  
"THE BEST COURSE WOULD BE TO CONVINCE KLARION TO REVERSE THE SPELL."  
"Too high-risk," the Scarab said, "with very little chance of success."  
"THEN WAIT. WITHOUT SOME SORT OF ANCHOR TO GROUND THE SWAP, YOUR MINDS SHOULD REASSERT THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS IN TIME."  
"And there is no... anchor?" Nightwing asked.  
"NOT THAT I HAVE DETECTED."  
"How long?" the Scarab asked.  
"I DO NOT KNOW."  
"What was the purpose of this swap? What could the Klarion gain from such a thing?"  
"I DO NOT KNOW. KLARION'S METHODS AND GOALS ARE OFTEN INSCRUTIBLE. HE IS CHAOS INCARNATE."  
"Right," Nightwing said. "Thank you for your help."  
Clearly taking that remark for a dismissal, Dr Fate summoned and stepped into a portal without responding.  
"Well," Nightwing said after several seconds of awkward silence, "I guess that answers that."  
The Scarab nodded. "Ideally we should go after this Klarion, but our current state is... vulnerable. It may be necessary to wait out the spell. We must isolate ourselves from potential enemies until the situation is resolved." He headed for the door.  
-Wait, we what? No! I have school, and... and the Team!-  
Both Jaime and the Scarab ignored Nightwing's odd look as they armoured up to leave. They were heading for the door when Nightwing put a gentle restraining hand on the Scarab's elbow. The Scarab spun and threw him, but Nightwing grabbed the Scarab's shoulder spike in one hand, flipped around behind him, and put an arm around his throat. "Stand down and I won't have to hurt you!"  
 _Adrenalin response. Heart rate spike. Systems within safe parameters. Hostile action attempting to restrict breathing. Breathing unobstructed._ Jaime passed a charge through the armour. Nightwing screamed and let go. The Scarab called a plasma cannon; Jaime built it around his arm without thinking. The Scarab aimed.  
-Wait! No!-  
"He attacked first," the Scarab responded. "He proved himself unworthy of your trust."  
"I don't want to hurt you," Nightwing said, drawing a batarang.  
"Then we have the advantage."  
-He wasn't attacking!-  
"Are you telling me the Nightwing was not hostile?"  
-He... well... -  
"As I thought. Your trust was misplaced."  
-No, he... we need him. We need him alive.-  
"Then I will simply disable him." The Scarab adjusted the power accordingly.  
-We can retreat without hurting anyone.-  
"Such a tactic would give the impression of weakness."  
-Just trust me!-  
"Your judgements today have not been accurate."  
"Beetle... Scarab..." Nightwing said slowly, "It would be best if you just... stayed here, inside the base, while we figured this out."  
"We cannot stay here."  
-The base is probably the safest place,- Jaime pointed out.  
"The chances of us successfully orchestrating such a ruse long-term are very low," the Scarab explained under his breath, "and we are too vulnerable in this state to effectively defend ourselves against our stronger potential enemies. If this situation is going to persist for an indeterminate length of time, we cannot effectively strategise to compensate. We must temporarily withdraw and isolate ourselves completely until the situation has resolved itself."  
-No, you are not pulling me out of school and away from my family for an 'indeterminate length of time'. That's just going to create a mess to clean up later.-  
"Yes, but we will no longer be vulnerable when cleaning it up."  
-If we are attacked, would you rather it be in a familiar area, surrounded by our allies, or off alone somewhere?-  
"Those 'allies' could – "  
-No. You have fought with these people.-  
After a long moment, the Scarab lowered his weapon. "You must agree to maintain our secret," he told Nightwing.  
"You want to hide this situation from the rest of the Team?"  
"Yes."  
"Fine. Stay and I won't give your secret away."  
"We cannot stay. We must go to school."  
-No!- Jaime didn't even want to think about how many ways that could go wrong.  
"But I thought you wanted to resume – "  
-Yes, but tomorrow, ok? If we're stuck like this, we both need a lot of practise.-  
"Where, then?"  
-Somewhere nobody knows me. Let's... let's get you convincingly human first, and then worry about the details.-  
"We must leave," the Scarab said to Nightwing. "If you intend to try to stop us..."  
"I think you're making a mistake," Nightwing said.  
"Your opinion is not relevant." With that, the Scarab turned and left. After some brief discussion, they ended up in a mall somewhere in New York. Jaime felt the Scarab's nervousness at the crowds. Normal reaction, nothing to worry about.  
They'd barely entered the mall when the Scarab's heart rate spiked and his perception of his surroundings shrank to less than half of normal. Seconds later, Jaime detected significant chemical changes in his bloodstream. -Look out.-  
"What? What is it?" the Scarab muttered, moving into a more stable stance.  
-Not sure. Scanning.- No unusual chemical or sonic effects. Some guns present, but none of then drawn. No hostile actions from surrounding people. -Never mind, I can't find anything.-  
"Can't find anything? What put you on alert?" the Scarab muttered. His eyes followed a passing woman in a particularly low-cut top and he nearly walked into a wall. "Something is definitely interfering with my sensory systems."  
-Aha. No, I got it. It's not dangerous.-  
"What is it?"  
-It's a... biological weakness. Stop staring at women, my Mum raised me better than that.-  
"Why?"  
-Because it's rude and disrespectful.- Jaime thought about that for a bit and tried putting it into terms the Scarab would understand. -It can be taken as a signal of hostility and we don't want to start an unnecessary fight here. Seriously, it's like you've never seen a woman before.-  
"Through human eyes, I have not." The Scarab frowned to himself and fixed his gaze resolutely forward. "What is the pain beneath my ribs?"  
-Hunger. You didn't have breakfast. We should get you something to eat. And stop talking to yourself, it's a sign of mental illness.-  
The Scarab quickly identified and headed for the food court. Finding food once there, however, was a more difficult matter. His eyes skittered from shop to shop, settling on each menu for a few seconds before moving onward. "What is the most effective food item for eliminating hunger?" He asked in some distress.  
-You've been watching me eat since you bonded to my spine and food still confuses you?-  
"Beyond scanning for common poisons, I do not generally interfere with your eating. Which is the most effective?"  
-Ah, well, it's not a matter of effectiveness, even with the price...-  
"It certainly is," the Scarab insisted impatiently. "Which of these food has the optimal carbohydrate and sugar levels that my gastrointestinal system will recognise?"  
-I don't...- Jaime gave up. -The pie. Buy pie.-  
"Which pie?"  
-Apricot pie. From over there.-  
The Scarab patiently stood in line and ordered and obtained his pie without major incident. It was served on a little plate with a plastic fork. Carefully avoiding staring at anybody in a potentially hostile manner, he maneuvred his way to an empty table, sat down, and stared at the pie. After considering it for a moment, he leaned forward and breathed deeply. Slight dopamine increase in the brain, barely worthy of note. The Scarab balanced a small piece of pie on his plastic fork and stuck it in his mouth. He froze, staring fixedly at the now-empty fork, for about ten seconds. Jaime could feel his taste buds respond to the pie in a detached sort of way; he noted the activation, the chemicals they sensed, and a more sophisticated chemical analysis by his own artificial systems, without experiencing the flavour in any familiar way. He noted a further increase in dopamine and a few other trace hormones. Slowly, deliberately, the Scarab started to chew. Slowly, deliberately, the Scarab swallowed. He stared down at the pie.  
-Don't like it?- Jaime asked.  
"I... do," the Scarab whispered. "But it is... overwhelming." After some consideration, he ate another forkful.  
Jaime decided to try something. -See that little girl over there eating pie? She's feeling the same things you are.-  
The Scarab looked at the girl for a few seconds before losing interest. He slowly worked his way through the pie. Jaime felt his pulse jump before every mouthful.  
-Are you nervous? Is pie actually making you nervous?-  
"I think something is wrong with our mind transfer," the Scarab whispered.  
-Why?-  
"I... suspect that the environment is having a direct effect on my cognitive faculties. There is no filter or separate processing."  
-Oh.- Jaime chuckled in the Scarab's head. It felt disconcerting, not being accompanied by any of the normal sensations of laughter. -That's normal. Human moods and thoughts influence each other, and both are influenced by the environment.-  
"These things have a direct effect on your thought process?!" the Scarab hissed.  
-Yes.-  
"The environment directly affecting the cognitive faculties of an Infiltrator unit would be considered severe damage! How can you reliably function under such circumstances?!"  
-We seem to manage. You'll get used to it.-  
"To 'get used to it' would be to learn to ignore the flaw, not eliminate the flaw!" The Scarab hissed through his teeth as he stabbed angrily at the pie.  
-Calm down, people are staring.-  
"I cannot calm down. I have only minimal control over my moods."  
-Try taking deep, slow breaths and thinking about pie.-  
The Scarab started to breathe deeply and slowly as instructed. His heart rate fell to a little above rest. -You know,- Jaime said, -I'm a little surprised you didn't ask me to keep your hormones consistent to control your moods.-  
"I do not think that would be effective," the Scarab muttered. "It would be likely to create a disconnect between different mood-contributing systems and exacerbate the problem."  
If Jaime could sigh in relief, he would have. He'd been worried that he'd have to talk the Scarab out of turning him into some kind of unfeeling robot when they finally switched back. The Scarab slowly finished the pie and then glanced around. His gaze came to rest on a bookshop. "Do you require any books?" he asked quietly.  
-Not really, but let's take a look.-  
"I do not understand the purpose of this shop," the Scarab muttered as they thumbed through a random biography of some star Jaime had never heard of. "These data could be more efficiently transmitted electronically."  
-Yeah, well, some people like to feel paper in their hands when they read.-  
"Why? The information is the same."  
-But people like to feel like they're reading a book. You know what, I don't think I can explain this to you. It's just something that humans do.-  
"Can I help you?" A saleslady asked, coming up behind them. The Scarab jumped; heart rate spiked. He tried to summon a weapon; Jaime resisted.  
"I do not... I am fine, thank you," the Scarab responded tonelessly. "I am browsing."  
"Alright, let me know if you need anything." The saleswoman flashed her a bright smile and moved on.  
"She surprised us," the Scarab muttered. "She must be trained in stealth. Probably hostile. Recommend – "  
-She surprised you because your attention was on the book. She's a civilian. She's not hostile.-  
"You cannot be certain of that."  
-Are you going to try to kill everybody we meet until this is over?-  
"Only if they are dangerous."  
-So that's a yes, then?-  
"That would depend on who we encounter."  
-This was a mistake. We should go somewhere... less crowded.-  
"We should return to El Paso."  
-No, we shouldn't.-  
"It is known territory."  
-Why, so you can try to kill my mother again?-  
"I already agreed to avoid fatalities for the purposes of maintaining the illusion of normalcy."  
-... Fine. But no hitting family members.-  
They landed safely in El Paso several blocks from Jaime's house and put the armour away. The Scarab was casually walking back home when they saw Bart, in civvies, heading for their front door. At least he wasn't in costume this time.  
-Oh, we don't want to... too late, he's seen us.-  
The Scarab smiled and waved. "How are you doing, _hermano_?"  
Bart froze and stared for about half a second. Then he turned and fled, faster than even Jaime's artificial systems could track. The Scarab tried to armour up to pursue; Jaime resisted. -If you chase him, we'll freak him out more!-  
"The leak must be contained."  
-No! No. He's afraid of you, and with good reason! We're not... hunting him down! Let him go.-  
"He will reveal our condition."  
-There's nothing we can do about that. You wouldn't be able to catch him anyway. We are so busted.-  
"How did he know?" The Scarab sounded confused, which was at least better than his normal toneless mutter. "My imitation of you was perfect."  
-Apparently not.-  
"But..."  
-I'm guessing he has a lot more experience detecting you, than you do trying to be me. Yeah. We are busted.-  
"Suggested tactic for containing the leak..." the Scarab bit his lip. Jaime felt his uneasiness in his biofeedback systems.  
-You could do my math homework,- Jaime suggested.  
"How will that help?"  
-It'll help me.-


End file.
